(cross-posted at
TeddyStern.com)
Bill O'Reilly's petition to sack Keith Olbermann has gotten quite a bit of free publicity. However, the Talking Points segment that preceded the stunt was far more disturbing. In the course of a few minute, Bill laid out the administration's secret plan to win the peace. According to Bill, the way to get out of Iraq is the same way we got in -- talk to God. Before the war, President Bush consulted "a higher father." Of course, he got such bad advice, Bill thinks it's time to start calling in favors from the Big Guy Upstairs. Bill O'Reilly explains:
The frustrating thing is that the USA can't control this religious violence. No country could. So there is little we could do is pray things don't get worse.
And without so much as a drum roll, Bill O'Reilly announces the Bush administration's military strategy -- pray things don't get worse. President Bush didn't want to unleash the power of prayer, but now the terrorists have gone too far. He has been forced to call upon his good friend Jesus to fuck them up. In point of fact, prayer has been President Bush's contingency plan since day one. Pray Iraq reconstructs itself. Pray order maintains itself. Pray the war will pay for itself. Faith-based initiatives don't just mean replacing birth control with a prayer not to get pregnant. They mean substituting a plan to win the peace with a prayer "things don't get worse."
Talking Points believes America's cause in Iraq is noble. We have liberated millions of people and trying to give them a chance of freedom. Also, if Iraq does become a free nation, it would be a huge victory for the USA. But those are huge ifs. And right now Iraq is tottering.
Bill O'Reilly admits that success in Iraq rests on "huge ifs." Our national security should not be predicated on the outcome of a civil war that Bill just asserted we can't control. That's not security. That's Russian roulette. Yet, Bill readily admits our nation's safety rests in the hands of battling religious factions. And guess what? Those factions are praying too.
In fact, our entire foreign policy relies on a "huge if" that Colin Powell advanced during the run-up to the war. The so-called Pottery Barn rule states, "If you break it, you own it." Now we own it. And all of a sudden, Bill O'Reilly is getting buyer's remorse. He explains to his viewers:
It's a shame because we've spent billions and lost thousands of lives in this effort.
A shame? The choice of words betrays his shallow investment in this war. I'm surprised Bill didn't call the war "a bit of a downer" or "a real bummer" too. This war has not been a disappointment. It's been a heinous crime.
At this point, the only hope is the Iraqis themselves, both Shiites and Sunnis, will understand Al Qaeda is their enemy and wants them to kill each other. That understood, maybe the Iraqis will begin to unite against the terrorists. Maybe. It's a long shot but at this point it might be the only shot because the situation in Iraq is definitely on the edge.
"Maybe we can tie 400 bed sheets together and lower ourselves down from the 87th floor." What Bill O'Reilly suggests is a magical transformation that simply ignores over a millennium of bad blood between the Shiites and Sunnis. But, if we're going to talk hypotheticals, it's far more likely the two factions will unite against America than al Qeda.
$250 billion bought us the opportunity to pray things work out in Iraq. Heck, we could have done that for free.